The present invention relates to a damper attaching structure and damper attaching method for a damper attached inside various types of casings in an air conditioning for a vehicle system or the like.
This application is based on Japanese Patent Application No. Hei 11-103344, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
In an air conditioning system for an automobile, it has been the conventional practice to attach dampers for performing temperature adjustments or selective switching of outlet ports inside a casing.
FIGS. 5 and 6 show an overview of an air conditioning unit employed in a conventional air-conditioning system for a vehicle. Outlet ports 2a, 2b, and 2c open in a casing 1. Dampers 3a, 3b, and 3c are attached to outlet ports 2a, 2b, and 2c respectively. In order to facilitate attachment of each damper 3a, 3b, and 3c inside the casing 1 in this case, the casing 1 is designed to be formed by combining two separate left and right parts (1L, 1R). As a result of this design, an easy assembly is facilitated by passing rotational shafts provided to either end of the dampers into bearings in the casing 1, and inserting these rotational shafts into these bearings.
In addition, another conventional example shown in FIG. 7 employs a design in which the casing 1 is divided into upper and lower parts (1a, 1b) at a position at which a bearing 5 for supporting a rotational shaft 4 of a damper 2 can be divided into upper and lower portions. This design also facilitates easy assembly by inserting the rotational shaft 4 from a vertical direction into the bearing 5.
The above-described damper 2 can be opened and closed by a lever 6 attached to the outside of the casing 1. As shown in FIG. 8, this lever 6 is attached by fixing the same to the end of the rotational shaft 4 which projects to the outside of the casing 1.
Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 9, when the rotational shaft 4 is provided with a certain degree of thickness, then a shaft 6a is provided projecting outward from the lever 6, and can be attached by engaging in a shaft hole 4a which is provided in the rotational shaft 4. In this type of lever attachment structure, it is not necessary to provide the rotational shaft 4 projecting out from the damper 2. As a result, the damper 2 can be shortened by an amount corresponding to the rotational shafts 4 at either end thereof. Accordingly, the damper 2 can be incorporated inside the casing 1 by employing an appropriate opening such as an outlet port or a port communicating to another casing.
However, in the above-described conventional design, it is typically necessary to decide where to divide the casing after taking into consideration the incorporation of the damper within the casing. Thus, there are limitations to the inclination and direction of the plurality of outlet ports installed, so that there is less freedom of design.
By employing the lever attachment structure shown in FIG. 9 when the rotational shaft of the damper has a certain thickness, the damper can be assembled from an opening such as an outlet port without considering the division of the casing.
However, in the case where the rotational shaft is not sufficiently thick and it is not possible to employ a design in which the casing is divided at the bearing, or a design in which the casing is divided into left and right portions and the rotational shaft is inserted therebetween, then it is not possible to incorporate the damper inside the casing. Specifically, when there are a large number of dampers to be incorporated, then it is extremely difficult to employ a design for dividing the casing that is suitable for all the dampers.
The present invention was conceived in consideration of the above-described problems and has as its objective the provision of a damper attaching structure and damper attaching method in which a damper provided with a narrow rotational shaft can be assembled inside a casing by employing openings formed in various types of casings such as casing or duct.
In order to resolve the above-described problems, the present invention employs the following means.
The present invention provides a damper attaching structure in which both ends of a damper which is disposed between opposing wall members of a casing or the like are supported by the wall members in a manner so as to enable free rotation and the rotation operation of the damper is performed via a lever attached by a damper shaft on the outside of the wall member; the damper attaching structure comprising: a concave groove formed in the inner surface of the wall member and continuous with a casing opening; a positioning member provided at the base of the damper shaft on the damper side thereof; a shaft hole opening at the concave groove, which is larger than the cross section of the damper shaft; a shaft fixing member provided on the lever and rotatably inserted into the shaft hole; and an engaging hole into which the damper shaft member is inserted and which engages the damper shaft member to enable torque transmission; wherein the concave groove is larger in shape than the positioning member, the positioning member is inserted into the concave groove at the attachment position of the damper, and the positioning member adjusts the position of the damper along the shaft direction by crossing with the concave groove at the rotation position of the damper.
In this case, the angle formed between the positioning member and a center line in the longitudinal direction of the concave groove at a position of the rotational center when the damper is operating may be set to approximately 90xc2x0.
In addition, it is preferable that the damper shaft and the engaging hole have the same polygonal shape in cross section. The lever may be joined to the damper shaft which has been inserted into the shaft hole by pushing the lever in the direction of the shaft from the outside of the wall member.
According to the above damper attaching structure, even if the damper shaft is thin and it is not possible to employ a divided structure suitable to the casing or the like, it is still possible to incorporate the damper from the casing opening and attach the lever.
Furthermore, the present invention provides a damper attaching method, wherein both ends of a damper which is disposed between opposing wall members of a casing or the like are supported by the wall members in a manner so as to enable free rotation and the rotation operation of the damper is performed via a lever attached by a damper shaft on the outside of the wall member; the damper attaching structure comprising: a first step in which the end of the damper shaft and a positioning member, which is provided at the base of the damper shaft on the damper side thereof, are inclined downward and inserted into a concave groove that is formed in the inner surface of the wall member and is continuous with a casing opening, and the damper shaft is inserted into a shaft hole which opens at the concave groove and which is larger than the cross section of the damper shaft; a second step in which, after the positioning member has been inserted into the concave groove and the damper has been moved to the lever attachment side, the damper shaft which is circular in cross section is inserted into the shaft hole which is circular in cross section that is provided in the wall member opposite the wall member on the lever attachment side; and a third step in which, with the positioning member projecting out from the concave groove, the damper is rotated from the attachment position to the rotation position, while at the same time a shaft fixing member on the lever is inserted into the shaft hole in a manner so as to enable rotation and an engaging hole provided in the shaft fixing member is joined to the damper shaft so as to enable torque transmission.
Note that the rotation of the damper from the attachment position to the rotation position in the third step may be approximately 90xc2x0.
As a result of this type of damper attaching method, a damper can be incorporated from the casing opening and the lever can be attached, even when the damper shaft is thin and it is not possible to employ a suitable divided structure for the casing or the like.